In the eye of the beholder
by just delete this account
Summary: I bring you guys another 5x6 drabble. I don't know how to sumarize it because, like I said it's a drabble. But I will say that if you like 5x6 it's worth checking out.


Hiiiyyyaa peoples!!! Thanks for clicking on mah little story. I was just depressed with all the angsty fics around here and I thought to myself….I GOTTA WRITE SOMETHING **WITHOUT** ANGST. And so, this little piece was born.

This is set a long time before the movie so, no 9 XD…And ooh 6 hasn't had any visions regarding the source yet so he doesn't compulsively draw the talisman over and over here.

Inspired by the song "Halo" by Beyonce

* * *

More often than not, 5 wondered exactly, just, what 6 saw in him…or what 6 saw _out_ him for the matter. Well, 6 had always been a peculiar one the others said. And if 5 remembered correctly, the scientist himself had once said that 6 was…different. He saw the world differently from everyone else. Now, 5 wondered…What exactly does _he _look like through the artist's mismatched eyes?

It wasn't that he found it weird or bad that the younger stitchpunk's shuttered eyes always seemed to find him whenever he was close and it wasn't like it bothered him every time he sees a strange type of brightness light up the pinstriped doll's face every time his mismatched eyes settle on him, no. Just the opposite. 5 was eternally thankful that whatever 6 saw in him, it was enough for the artist to choose him…What was the phrase again? To be in…wait… _To fall in love _with. Yup, that was it…Because for all his eccentric actions, impulsiveness and random outbursts, he fell in love with the artist too. He didn't know at first why exactly he cared and felt more strongly for the artist than any of the others, why he had a weird, heightened awareness of him. He didn't know why he always wanted to know where the other was and be sad and worried if he didn't or why he felt the need to be near him all the time. He didn't know why he always wanted to comfort the artist every time he was scared of his visions or 1 or 8 and wished he could just protect him from all of them. He didn't know what he found so amusing and endearing about the pinstriped dolls actions and mannerisms and why he felt a weird fluttering in his insides everytime he thought about 6. He didn't know…Until he confided all of it to 2 who, upon hearing of his confusion, had chuckled heartily, patted him on the shoulder and gave him a simple 5 worded answer.

"My boy, you're in love."

At his mentor's answer, the engineer had tilted his head to the side and asked. " How do you know? And 2, what exactly is love?" To which the elder stitch punk replied. "Love is love" he chuckled for a moment. "It's hard to explain. It exists…well it used to exist everywhere, in a lot of different forms. Love exists between friends, between family and of course between lovers. It's a strong type of emotion that a person feels for someone else that they care about and in the case of lovers, attracted to." 5 sorta got it, he knew then that what he felt for the others was love for family and friends, but how did that differ from what he felt for 6? True, he thinks he "loved" 6 more than the others but, strangely, he also felt that he loved 6 as family and a friend…He was so confused…Did that mean he loved 6 in that other way? What was it again? Lovers? Wait…How was that different from friendly love? He had voiced these thoughts to 2, who once again replied with the confidence and wisdom of a wise old soul. "Well, you do. But at the same time, you feel for him in a different, special kind of way. Hmm…how do I put it? Well….you find him, I've already said special, so I'll use another word, beautiful. You're attracted to him, like a lover, someone who is more precious to you above all else. Yes, yes that's it."

After that he had a semi-clear picture of what exactly it was that he felt for 6, and he went off to find the other stitchpunks, who could possibly know more about everything than 2, 3and 4. From his conversation with 2, three words remained lingering in the engineer's mind.

_Beautiful_

_Precious_

_Attracted_

He wanted a crystal clear definition of those words so that he could fully understand the type of love he possessed for 6.

After finding them and telling them what he wanted to know, the tins had jumped up and started projecting these random images from their eyes of different people and words and pictures. At first they didn't make sense to 5, until he saw what was common about them. Men swooning over elegant, gorgeous looking women, a couple holding hands on the beach, a mother holding her newborn baby, and as the twins paused them for him to read, passages from books, describing in so many words, the love between two people, how they felt every time they saw each other, how they felt whenever they touched, hugged or kissed. All of it, was just so…so…. Pleasant, amazing, wonderful, uplifting…precious…._beautiful_.

'_Ah, so that's what it was'_ 5 had thought

It wasn't something tangible or even definable really…It just was…the only other words to describe them with were themselves. Beautiful, amazing, precious…they all meant the same thing, they all meant each other, they all meant themselves…and that was that… and they just somehow all mixed in with the entire love thing. He couldn't explain it right but he just sorta knew what it was and what it had to do with 6 and him, just like that. And he knew he wanted it, he wanted love and 6.

After that, he had gone to the pinstriped stitchpunk, and tried, albeit awkwardly to tell him how he felt.

"6…ummm…I, uh…I-I…I guh…oh geez…well, it's um, I wanted…Um, well, What I came to tell y-you… is…"

He had stuttered, eye shifting from one drawing to another that littered 6's wall as he tried without much success to convey his feelings. All the while, 6 merely stared at him expectantly, patiently awaiting what he was gonna say. Had he kept his eye on the artist's face, he would've seen the barely concealed smile and the knowing quality to the younger stitchpunk's expression as he watched the journeyman stutter and fidget.

5 was busy staring at a drawing of 3 and 4 that hung just behind 6, when he felt a pen nib finger gently settle against his lips, halting their pointless mumbling. He had looked down upon the shorter stitchpunk in surprise and saw him smiling tenderly, all the while his mismatched eyes gazed up at him in a way that made something flutter warmly within him. _beautiful_.

"I know"

6 murmured softly before moving the finger on 5's lips and settling one hand on the mechanic's burlap cheek and surprising 5 by gently pressing his lips to the older stitchpunk's.

It makes 5 chuckle a bit everytime he remembered.

He knew. He saw it coming. He already knew…just like he seemed to know everything else that was supposed to happen. And, to 5's utter joy and bewilderment, 6 felt the same way too.

He couldn't have been any happier that 6 felt the same toward him and 5 could very well say that spending time with 6 after they "got together" as 2 put it, had brought him some, no, plenty of the most wonderful and meaningful moments of his existence, but the mechanic had to wonder…Why him?

Not that he was complaining, heck no. 5 was just extremely curious by nature and he had to wonder. Was it because he was, according to some people, namely 2, 3, 4 and 7, compassionate and sweet? Or was it because 6 found him fascinating and like he did the artist, beautiful?

5 highly doubted that it was the latter.

Because common him? Beautiful? If 5 had to describe himself beautiful would be the _last_ word he'll use.

Ever since the journeyman had lost his eye, he hadn't considered himself even pleasant to look at, much less beautiful.

He had worked up the courage to ask 6 about it and upon being asked, the artist tilted his head to the side, stitched eyebrows knotted together in confusion as he looked at 5.

"What…What do you mean, what do I see in you? I-I love you, isn't that enough?" 6 asked looking totally confused and a little nervous as he grabbed his key with one hand and drew circles in the dirt with the other.

"Well. It's nothing bad really, I'm just curious…Well d-do you umm…well…am I…uhm..well…pleasant to look at to uhh… to you?" 5 had stuttered in reply, somehow incredibly embarrassed now that he had conveyed his thoughts aloud to 6, who's eyebrows only furrowed more and more, mouth twisted in a frown instead of replying. Several seconds passed before 6 moved. He opened his mouth and held out a hand as if to explain something and 5 leaned forward expectantly, awaiting what 6 was about to say.

"I…"

6 uttered before closing his mouth and looking away, as if he were choosing words then changing them over and over in his head.

This happened several more times for about a couple of minutes. 6 started to say something before changing his mind shutting his mouth, rephrasing whatever it was he wanted to say in his head and trying again, all the while, 5 waited patiently, paying attention every time 6 started to say something then feeling disappointed every time he backed down.

"Uhm….Nevermind then. It's ok you don't have to answer." 5 said when he eventually figured out that 6 wouldn't be able to give him an answer anytime soon.

5 kept his one-eyed gaze on the floor as he turned away from 6 to walk himself to the make-shift elevator, wanting some peace and quiet to sulk in disappointment in the watch tower, away from everyone else.

All the while, 6 stared at his back sadly, frustrated with himself that he can't put what he thought of 5 into words and guilty for making the journeyman feel bad. 6 took a hesitant step forward, he wanted to stop 5 from leaving, he didn't want 5 to leave with the impression that 6 didn't find him precious…But he didn't know what to say…

5 was almost to the elevator when a hand gripped his arm firmly and stopped him from taking another step. His eye blinked and he turned to face 6.

"I…You're…I love looking at you…I like how you look…I do."

The artist said, moving closer to 5 with every word and hoping that the mechanic could see that he meant everything. 5 was quiet for a millisecond or two before he smiled softly at the pinstriped doll. The one eyed stitchpunk grasped the hand on his arm and used his grip to pull the other to him and lay a gentle kiss on the artist's mouth.

"Thank you 6. I appreciate that"

5 murmured, resting his hand on 6's face and rubbing the pinstriped cheek with his thumb. Their gazes locked for a few more seconds before reluctantly let go of 6 and made his way into the elevator.

6 watched him go sadly, knowing that he still hadn't convinced 5 with his words.

It was in that time that 6 cursed his inability to express something without putting it on paper…

6's face suddenly lit up in realization. That was it! And with that, the pinstriped stitchpunk ran off to find a stack of blank paper and a huge bottle of ink.

5 yawned as he stepped out of the bucket elevator. Man, time goes by so fast when you're distracted. He had just spent part of his day gazing out, albeit not really paying attention to anything, into the emptiness and the remaining parts of his day gazing out into the emptiness, with the telescope. Before he knew it, there was nothing more to look at except silhouettes and darkness.

5 stretched his arms above his head and his eye closed as he yawned again. He started walking toward the general direction of 6's "nest" as the others called it because of the fact that the walls and the floor were covered with layers of paper, with the intention of bidding the artist goodnight before going to sleep. He opened his eye when he heard something crinkle beneath his foot as he stepped on it, and he looked down to see what it is. 5 blinked when he saw 6 in front of him, lying on the floor beside an open bottle of ink and with papers strewn around him. 5 had found that he even stepped on one of them and he picked it up to examine what 6 had drawn on it.

Squinting in the dim light, 5 held the paper closer to his face to find it to be,

Him?

5 blinked and with the action his eye adjusted a bit more to the dark. He looked at the drawing again and confirmed it to in fact be a sketch of him. He couldn't really make out how good the drawing was or really what it was about but he was 100% sure it was him in it because of the blank space on the upper left corner of his face where his lost eye once was.

With new found curiosity, 5 tucked the drawing under one arm and felt around for the matches 1 kept lying around the throne room. 5 smiled when he felt the familiar wooden body of the match and immediately scratched the head against the wall. He squinted a bit as it flared to life, and held it out like a torch, far away from his face and the paper(A/N: Both of which are easily flammable XD)

Once the flame was a safe distance away, 5 looked back on the drawing and let out a soft gasp at what he saw. It indeed was him. 6 had drawn him, his shape standing out against a black background, facing sideways in one hand he held a huge rolled up piece of paper, while the other was held up in front of him, one brass finger pointing at something above. His face was turned toward to whomever was looking at the drawing, a gentle smile etched on to his ink face. The drawing was so detailed, so realistic, so….

_beautiful_

5 thought the word as his eye roved over every line, every curve.

He noticed when the flame started inching it's way quickly to the part of the match he still held and 5 immediately dumped the still flaming match on the small makeshift hearth he and 3 had made a long time ago. He sighed when the embers lit up as they caught the flame, their orange glow bathed the room in a faint light.

5 turned his attention back to the drawing, marveling over it some more before he noticed the other sheets of paper scattered around 6's sleeping form. 5 hurried to one, making sure to keep his steps light and closely spaced as not to wake his slumbering lover.

He collected all the papers scattered around 6 and looked over each one. The journeyman noted with surprise and elation, that they were all exquisite, and seemingly more stunning than the last, and all of them, featured him.

Him, sitting down on the floor with the 3 and 4 on either side of him, his face gentle and his mouth open as if he were teaching them something fascinating.

Him, patching up a tear on 2's shoulder, his face full of concern and compassion.

Him holding 6 to his chest as the artist slept, smiling contentedly as he looked down upon the stitchpunk curled against him.

He smiled as he layed them side by side on the floor in front of him. He gazed at each one in awe, as he wondered how 6 had managed to make him, simple and deformed, so…striking and stunning in his drawings.

5 looked over to the still slumbering ragdoll by his side and smiled.

"You never cease to amaze me. Thank you 6"

5 knew then, that 6 didn't really know what was beautiful about 5, just that when he looks at him, these drawings are what he see.

and that was that....no one can really define beauty or see what it is that's really beautiful...Beauty was just in the eye of the beholder.

* * *

Ughhh….well…my attempt at that pretty much went up in flames. XP….Sorry guys. Inspiration has left the building once again, and it took with it, grammar and creativity. Gahhh… I wonder how the thing I thought up in the beginning got reduced to pointless fluff….Oh well, whatever. I won't ask you to review but I will ask you not to flame. Thanx for reading.


End file.
